Atomwise Enters Into an Evaluation Agreement with Pfizer

September 17, 2018 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Atomwise Inc., a leader in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for drug
discovery and design, has entered into an evaluation agreement with
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE). Pfizer will evaluate Atomwise’s platform to
identify potential drug candidates for up to three target proteins
selected by Pfizer.

In the agreement, Pfizer will pay a technology access fee and additional
success-based payments for each target protein of interest. Atomwise
will computationally analyze millions of diverse small molecules for
each of Pfizer’s identified target proteins using its cutting-edge AI
platform to predict those that may bind with high affinity to the
selected target proteins. Atomwise’s medicinal and computational
chemistry teams will also work with Pfizer scientists to define the
required potency and other chemical properties of the small molecules
for the targets of interest.

Pfizer is one of many pharmaceutical companies looking to AI technology
to advance drug discovery. Atomwise’s platform uses a patented
application of AI technology to extract statistical insights from
millions of experimental affinity measurements and thousands of protein
structures to accurately predict the binding of small molecules to
proteins. Atomwise’s scientists and engineers have created and validated
a powerful tool that can be applied to the discovery and design of small
molecules with potentially high accuracy for hit discovery and lead
optimization programs.

Atomwise’s AI technology can analyze a very large chemical space to
identify diverse chemical structures that are predicted to bind with
high affinity. Through the use of AI-based technology to virtually
screen chemical libraries, research and development is no longer
constrained by the number of compounds in a physical library, or the
resources needed to create and screen them. By evaluating orders of
magnitude more molecules, new therapeutic opportunities such as
historically-challenging target classes, and novel therapeutic
approaches such as bispecific small molecules, can potentially be made
tractable. Drug discovery processes that traditionally have taken years
can theoretically be compressed to weeks or months by using Atomwise’s
technology and collaborative workflow.

About Atomwise

Atomwise Inc. patented the first deep learning technology for
structure-based small molecule drug discovery. This AI technology
harnesses millions of data points and thousands of protein structures to
solve problems that a human chemist would take many lifetimes to solve.
Atomwise has partnered with some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical
and agrochemical companies, and with more than 50 leading academic
institutions and hospitals, to tackle the challenges of discovering and
developing better drugs and chemicals. Recently, Atomwise raised $45
million from leading venture capital firms to support the development
and application of its AI technology.